January 2015: All the Things

Did anyone else see January fly by? 1/12 of 2015 is already gone. This is nuts. 

These past few months, I’ve been overwhelmed with how good God is!

It started with Christmas. I don’t know why, but every year the meaning of it gets more real to me. Even more precious. Beyond the beauty of the season, the yummy food, and the fun of exchanging gifts – celebrating Him.  It takes my breath away. 

As wonderful as Christmas was, and as great as it was to be home, with family, at CBC, and of course, with my poodle on my ankles whenever I sat down, I was excited to return to Gainesville and “re-enter life.” After working from home for 2 weeks, I was excited to return to the office and see my co-workers (pictured above at a Christmas party in December). Excited about the year ahead and all God will do in it. Excited about all the writing to do! Lots of excitement, basically. 🙂

We opened the year at a World Race Training, where 5 World Race Squads launched the first week of January. Marketing went for a day/night. This launch was my first, and I went because I was one of the people training Story Leaders for while they are in the field. So this was the chance to meet them in person, pour into them, and laugh a lot. Now they are spread out all over the world. It’s so fun catch up with them and hear what God is doing!

*All the Writing Story Leaders with my co-workers, Sarah, Nicole, and I.

MLK weekend, I had the opportunity to visit one of my closest friends. I met Vikki when we led trips in 2008, her to India and me to Swazi. A fellow writer, we connected in a way that I knew would last a lifetime. Then we bonded at the orphanage in the DR October 2008, when we both thought we’d lose our minds before the month was over (thank you to everyone who prayed us through that month – it’s the only way we made it!). We’ve kept in touch and visited each other randomly throughout the years. She lives in Connecticut and always told me that if I visited her, we could go into New York City (I’d never been). When she got engaged right before Christmas, I knew I wanted to see her before she got married. So God worked it out and we had the most beautiful weekend. I got to meet her fiance and see her life. And the cherry on top, explore this fun place with one of my favorite people:

Two of the days I was there, the weather was pretty bad. We stayed inside and chilled, enjoying the slow winter days. But the day we went into NYC, the weather was so beautiful. In the 8 hours we were there, we walked 9 miles and over 20,000 steps (yay for pedometers!). For me, the highlight was arriving at the Statue of Liberty just as the sun began to set. We raced for the free Staten Island ferry and took the most breathtaking ride across the East River. That hour on the ferry was something I’ll never forget! I am just so thankful for Vikki. So thankful for her friendship and her example to me as a woman of God. And so thankful that after three years, God worked it out so we could see each other again – and during our shared birthday month! 

And then… 31! 

I think it was the best birthday I’ve ever had. So chill – the entire weekend was time with people I love and feeling so loved. And the fact that it was a Sunday was even better. I started attending a church last October that God has used so much in my life. Sundays are my new favorite days of the week, and being able to be there, praising God on my birthday was so special. And the day before, some friends and I decided going to one of those trampoline places would be a grand adventure. We had way too much fun launching ourselves into foam pits, playing dodgeball with random 10-year-olds, and getting laughed at by the staff, who told us that 30-year-olds only show up to jump themselves “once in a blue moon.” I didn’t have the heart to tell them we had a groupon for 2 visits and we’re coming back in March! 

This week Marketing we got new interns from CGA, a discipleship program at Adventures. There are three who are writers, and I found out I’ll be helping mentor/edit/working with them on writing projects in addition to what I normally do. It’s a new thing for me, but I’m excited to learn more and share this passion I have for writing, and the responsibility/privilege of writing for God and Adventures. 

The coolest thing about being in Marketing is seeing the story God is writing with our organization. Seeing how many people are involved in sending, supporting, and going. Everyday I hear stories from all over the world, from all the different programs, that blow me away. Seeing how all the pieces work together (and knowing that the view I have is still so small in comparison to all God is doing!) is SO COOL! To see a glimpse of what God did in 2014, click here or on the photo below, which is our Year End Report. It has everything from a day in the life of Adventures (how many hours of worship and strips of bacon fueled our staff!) to how many people were sent on the field, and where! 

So, I’m going to end this post with a verse a friend shared with me last fall:

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 15:13

Hope you are doing well! I thank God for each and every one of you!